Between You & Me - By Marisa Calin Page 0,50
torrential rain, splashing up from the sidewalk so that my legs are as wet as my arms. The pavement glistens. I start to run, pushing my slick hair away from my face. I think of the last time I ran toward you, my eyes closed on the playing field that day. And suddenly it feels like I’ve been running toward you with my eyes closed for the past three months. I can feel the rain dripping down my neck but I don’t stop to put my collar up. I round the corner, relieved to see the lights on at your house up ahead. In a second I’m on your doorstep, bedraggled, soaked to the skin. If you looked through the peephole now, you’d see me. Come and answer the bell. Please! There’s no use taking shelter now, so I step back and let the rain pour down my face. I think I see the upstairs curtain move. Then, as I stand here, as quickly as the rain started, it tapers to slow thick drops, and then stops. I look up at the clearing sky, suddenly aware of how I must look. Being wet in the rain is romantic; being wet when it’s not raining is poor planning, and now I feel stupid. The porch light comes on and I squint at its brightness. You pull open the door.
ME
Hi.
YOU
Hi.
You give me the look that I know is reserved for me, the only-you look. Then, instead of inviting me in, you step out to join me. Standing on the top step in the mist of moisture left in the air, you look at me. I don’t wait for you to say anything else. I kiss you, my arms wrapped tightly around your waist and I pull you toward me so I feel the full length of your body. Kissing you is amazing. It’s right. Still half a step down I look into your eyes.
You smile.
FADE OUT.
Acknowledgments
I would love to thank Chandra Wohleber of the red pen, Alexei Esikoff of the green pen, Caroline Abbey, and all the amazing people at Bloomsbury.
Copyright © 2012 by Marisa Calin
All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages
First published in the United States of America in August 2012
by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers
This electronic edition published in August 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Bloomsbury BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Calin, Marisa.
Between you & me / by Marisa Calin. – 1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Phyre, sixteen, narrates her life as if it were a film, capturing her crush on Mia, a student teacher of theater and film studies, as well as her fast friendship with a classmate referred to only as “you.”
[1. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 2. Student teachers—Fiction. 3. Teachers—Fiction. 4. Theater—Fiction. 5. Acting—Technique—Fiction. 6. High schools—Fiction. 7. Schools—Fiction. 8. Love—Fiction.] I. Title.
II. Title: Between you and me.
PZ7.C12868Bet 2012 [Fic]—dc23 2011035066
ISBN 978-1-59990-830-0 (e-book)
Table of Contents
Contents
My Bedroom. September. Evening.
School Hallway. Monday Morning. First Day.
Sunny Classroom. That Afternoon.
Playing Fields. Soon After.
Peele’s. Late Afternoon.
The Street. Soon After.
The Bookstore. Moments Later.
The Street. Early Evening.
My Bedroom. Soon After.
School Theater. Tuesday Afternoon.
Hallway. Later That Afternoon.
School Steps. After School. The Next Day.
My Bedroom. Almost Midnight.
Front Door. Soon After.
My Bedroom. Minutes Later.
Cut To: An Hour Later.
School Courtyard. Thursday Morning. The Next Week.
Theater. Soon After.
My Bedroom. That Evening.
Peele’s. After School. The Next Monday.
Homeroom. The Next Morning.
Front Gate. School. The Next Morning.
Theater. Tuesday Lunch. The Next Week.
Study Hall. Next Period.
School Gate. The Next Morning.
Courtyard. Soon After.
Reading Room. Lunch.
Theater. Monday Afternoon. The Next Week.
Empty Theater. After Class.
Peele’s. Thursday. After School. A Few Weeks Later.
Cut To: Later.
Theater Trip. School Steps. 7 P.M.
The Bus. Soon After.
Theater Foyer. Moments Later.
Theater Auditorium. Five Minutes Later.
Theater Foyer. Intermission.
Theater Foyer. After The Play.
My Kitchen. Friday Morning.
School Courtyard. Nearly “After School.”
School Library. Moments Later.
School Hallway. Soon After.
My Bedroom. That Evening.
My Bedroom. Soon After.
School Theater Dressing Room. Monday Afternoon.
Theater. Moments Later.
School Hallway. The Next Day.
Peele’s. After School.
My Bedroom. That Night.
Theater. First Day of Rehearsal. After School.
School Lawn. Lunch.
Hallway. Soon After.
Homeroom. The Next Week.
Theater. After School. The Next Day.
School Gym. Minutes Later.
Hallway. Morning Break. The Next Week.
Theater. After School. The Next Day.
Outside Peele’s. Early Evening.
My Bedroom. Midnight. That Night.
Rehearsal. School Theater. Two Days Later.
My Bedroom. That Evening.
Movie Theater. Soon After.
The Street. Later That Night.
Theater. The Next Day.
My Bedroom. Saturday.
The Kitchen. Moments Later.
The Street. Seconds Later.
Mia’s Classroom. Monday. After School.
My Garden. Tuesday Evening. 7 P.M.
Theater. After School. Two Weeks Later.
Theater Courtyard. Afternoon. The Next Day.
Main School Hallway. Soon After.
The Road. Late Afternoon.
My Bedroom. That Evening.
School Gate. The Next Morning.
School Hallway. Ten Minutes Later.
Homeroom. Soon After.
Mia’s Classroom. Second Period.
Lunch.
Front Steps. After School.
My Kitchen. Later.
The Next Day. (Three Hours of Sleep Later.)
School Swimming Pool. First Break.
Poolside. Soon After.
School Library. Break. The Next Day.
School Courtyard. Minutes Later.
Neighbors’ Swimming Pool. Saturday Afternoon.
Your Bedroom. Soon After.
Theater. Afternoon of Dress Rehearsal. The Next Thursday, Before First Night.
First Night. Hair And Makeup. Curtain Up: Fifty Minutes.
Dressing Room. Curtain Up: Thirty-Five Minutes.
Backstage. Curtain Up: Thirty Minutes.
Dressing Room. Curtain Up: Ten Minutes.
Backstage. Curtain Up: Three Minutes.
The Curtain Rises.
Dressing Room. Five Minutes Later.
Theater Courtyard. Soon After.
My Kitchen. The Next Week. Morniing.
My Front Doorstep. Soon After.
My Bedroom. Soon After.
The Street. Evening.
Acknowledgments